Looking for anyone else that might have explored this scenario:

Our DS7 skipped last Fall from 1st to 2nd grade. Overall- the move was a BIG improvement. He did not get "challenged," however his writing ability quickly rose to high 2nd grade expectations and his reading and math skills had more room to expand.

We still encounter school "miseries" about boredom and social issues that come from being different than your average kid. We've been taking him to a psychologist 1 a week - mainly to give him an outlet to constructively express his frustrations and work on social skills he will need to get along in any environment. (he does not have any diagnosed 2E issues - just hypersensitivity in over stimulating environments and perfectionism)

So here's the idea. He is now technically a year ahead according to his age. Looking ahead at next year's math curriculum and reading curriculum, very little would be new or present a challenge. Would it be possible to just take the year off and focus on learning the things that currently excite and challenge him?

For example- he takes cello lessons and wants to start piano lessons. Add that to karate (which he also loves) and we have a crazy schedule once you throw school into the mix. He could make amazing leaps and bounds musically if he had the time to concentrate on learning theory and have more practice time. But "school" gets in the way.

I could easily keep him learning math with Dreambox and Life of Fred books, pick some literature and critical reading concepts, and keep him writing. I doubt he would loose any ground- would that be a reasonable response to lack of adequate challenge in the public schools? Or would that just set us up for school problems down the road?

Just feeling out the idea- I'm tired of worrying if he is wasting time in school and also a bit tired of advocating.

It could be a bad idea, depending on what you mean by "social issues." If the problem is that he's a whole lot more mature than his current classmates, setting him back with a group a year younger is unlikely to help.

What you're describing sounds like unschooling. The thing is that if it's just for a year, you're going to have the same problems when he goes back to school with the added issue that he now knows there are options beyond traditional school. If the unschooling year goes well, that could be a problem.

It sounds lovely. I would like to take my kids and go to the beach for a year and ignore work and school. Sounds lovely. Back to your situation - pick the least worst option.

From how I read it, I don't think that she is intending to put him back with age peers after year off. I read it to mean that they were considering taking 3rd grade off to unschool and then have him return the following year as a 4th grader - retaining the grade skip.

It sounds like you are describing allowing your son to pursue his passions, while still growing in academic areas. If you spend the year playing music, doing karate, and doing math, you may all be very happy. You may have a beautiful year of childhood. When you talk about taking a 'year off' school, it doesn't mean that all learning will end, of course!

The following year, you can reassess your choices. If you choose to have him return to school, you could test to figure out an appropriate placement, whatever that may be.

We chose a magical year and are signed up for another. "Schooling" takes very little time, leaving massive amounts of time for community, friends, time outside, passions, and snuggles.

My PG daughter has done this twice. As a five year old she retired from kindergarten in January and returned as a second grader the following fall. She stayed for third, but took this year off as a fourth grader and will return for 5th in the fall. She has a fabulous school and has experienced some really outstanding teachers, but she learns FAST and mostly on her own. She likes school, makes friends easily, but is also an introvert and needs a lot of solo time and time to create. All day, every day, school (even a great one) can feel like interference for her.

I think her time away has offered her unparalleled learning experiences and has also kept the "idea"of school fresh and attractive for her. She is radically advanced and in some warped way I actually thought the time away would diminish that somewhat. In fact the opposite has happened. But the main point is, it's definitely a viable option, especially if your school is on board and can be supportive.

I feel like your post is exactly what I've been thinking about for us. I really was considering this same situation for next year, but my son seems to want to go back to school because he has friends there now. I think it's a great idea if your child wants to do it. That way when he goes back to school, he will hopefully be a bit less ahead and can learn a reasonable amount in the next grade. My son also skipped a grade and was learning way too quickly and then would get bored, so now I keep him away from most workbooks and instead focus on violin, computer programming, and robotics. We will do these things over the summer and see what he wants to do for next year. Good luck making your choice!